Overhead door construction



Oct. 19, 1965 A. M. BUEHLER OVERHEAD DOOR CONSTRUCTION 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 26, 1963 rl j i;

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OVERHEAD DOOR CONSTRUCTION Filed June 26, 1955 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG. 4 1

34 ATTORN EVS Oct. 19, 1965 A. M. BUEHLER OVERHEAD DOOR CONSTRUCTION 3 Sheets-Sheet Filed June 26, 1965 INVENTOR ALLEN MOYER BUEHLER United States Patent 4 claims. (l. 16o- 191) This invention relates to overhead doors of the type commonly used on garages, warehouses and the like. More particularly, the invention is concerned with a twopiece overhead door of novel construction.

Two basic types of overhead door constructions are now on common use. The rst is the so-called one piece door and the second, which is known as the sectional door, employs a plurality of horizontally hinged sections, whereby the door folds in the manner of a roll top desk as it is opened and shut. For many years, manufacturers have been trying to make a door having the good features of both types, while avoiding the inherent disadvantages which` both types also have. For example, the one piece door is relatively inexpensive to manufacture since the multiple hinges required in the case of the sectional door are not required. However, the one piece door is bulky and presents quite a shipping problem. One attempt to combine the shipping compactness of the sectional door with the cheapness of the one piece door has resulted in a compromise-the two-piece door. However, the twopiece door so far developed have suifered their own disadvantages, and it is an object of the present invention to avoid such disadvantages.

The prior two-piece doors have been mounted in the door frames in one of two ways. The iirst method similates the mounting of the regular sectional door, i.e., the two sections have rolled up and down in the manner of a roll top desk. The hardware required for this type of mounting is quite extensive and includes horizontal guide tracks adjacent the ceiling of the garage or warehouse, as the case may be. The second method eliminates the need for these horizontal tracks by permanently, although pivotally attaching the top edge of the upper section to the top of the door frame so that the opening action of the door actually consists of folding the door upon itself while swinging the door, as a whole, in an upward direction. In this second method, it has been the common practice to provide vertical guide tracks at the sides of the door and close to the doorway opening, which tracks receive rollers aixed to the lower section of the door.

This arrangement has created several diiculties in the smooth operation of the two-piece door, and it is the more specific object of this invention to avoid these diiculties.

One of these difficulties is a direct result of the practice of arranging the guide tracks vertically and close to the doorway opening. With this arrangement, the door, when in. the upper folded position, has been poorly supported and over-balanced. The support afforded by the guide rollers at the top of the track has been located directly beneath the pivotal support for the upper section of the door, `so that the door, when in the upper position tended to pivot, as a whole, about these two vertically aligned support points.

The above described diiculty has been avoided in accord with the present invention by horizontally spacing the points supporting the door while it is in the raised position. Since the door is always hinged above the doorway opening, the object of the invention has been achieved by moving the second support point away from the doorway opening. More specifically, this second sup- 3,212,560 Patented Oct. 19, 1965 port point has been moved close to the central region of the folded door as to be located near the center of gravity thereof. Since this second point of support of the door is effected by one or two cables, its location has been shifted as desired by moving the pulley or pulleys from which the cables extend away from the doorway. At the same time, the side guide tracks, if such are used, can be arranged at an angle to the vertical. By using slanted guide tracks, it is possible to avoid the use of large brackets fixed to the lower section of the door and extending inwardly from the doorway opening a suflicient distance to achieve the object of the invention.

Other novel and advantageous features are incorporated in the door structure in accord with this invention. For example, a torsion rod type counter balancing means is arranged at one side of the door and in a vertical position. Prior arrangements have employed straight coil springs or weights at the sides of the doors or torsion bars across the top. However, the side mounted torsion bar arrangement saves head room, and has other advantages pertaining to the safety of the assembly in use. Further, the door in accord with this invention is ex'- tremely simple to install, due to the use of corner brackets of a particuler and novel construction. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the corner brackets actually comprise the upper portions of a pair of uprights arranged on either side of the doorway. With this arrangement, the door is actually suspended between these pillars and as a result, further advantageous features are gained. For example, the independent pillar or upright arrangement makes it very simple to install the door quickly and accurately. Other advantages and irnportant features of the door in accord with this invention will be apparent from the following description of oneembodiment thereof as read in conjuction with the accompanying drawings.

In drawings which illustrate an embodiment of the invention,

FIGURE 1 is a side elevation view partially in section of an overhead door construction in accord with this invention,

FIGURE 2 is a perspective view of a corner bracket and associated parts,

FIGURE 3 is a view similar to the upper part of FIG- URE 1, but showing the door in the raised position, and,

FIGURE 4 is a perspective view of a second corner bracket and roller guide track in accord with this invention,

FIGURES 5 and 6 are views similar to those shown in FIGURES 2 and 4 respectively, but pertaining to a modiiied form of the door construction in accord with the invention.

Referring to FIGURE 1, the novel door construction essentially consists of a pair of vertical jambs 10, a head piece 12, and a two-piece door generally indicated by the reference numeral 14 and made up of an upper section 14a and a lower section 14b. The two sections are hinged together by a horizontal hinge 16 in such a manner that the door is capable of folding inwardly. In this regard, it is pointed out that the inside of the garage or warehouse, as the case may be, is on the right hand side of FIGURE 1.

The door is supported by a pair of corner brackets 18 and 20, only one of which is actually shown in FIGURE 1. Arranged on either side of the door and, depending from the corner brackets 18 and 20 are a pair of side guide tracks 22 and 24. The guide tracks receive guide rollers 26 and 28, which are carried by the lower door section 14b, or more exactly, by a pair of brackets 30 and 32 aflixed to section 14b.

The lower end of the side guide tracks 22 and 24 are 3 supported by brackets 34 and 36 which are, in turn, attached to the vertical jambs and 12.

Arranged at one side of the doorway is a counter balancing apparatus consisting of a torsion bar 38, a pair of conical pulleys 40 and 42 co-axially fixed to the upper end of torsion bar 38, and a coil spring 44 fixed at one end to bar 38 by means of a collar device 46 and to a bracket 4S at the other end, the bracket 48 being fixed to the door frame.

The conical pulleys 40 and 42 together constitute a cable take-up means. Wrapped about the lower pulley 42 is a rst cable 50 which passes over an idler pulley 52 carried by bracket 18 and down the side track 22 to engagement with the roller 26. The second cable 54 is wrapped about pulley 40 and passes around two idler pulleys 56 and 58 down the other side track 24 to engagement with the second roller 28. Cables 50 and 54 actually engage the axle members 60 and 62 of the rollers 26 and 28 respectively. This is a matter of expediency, and these cables can be fixed to the brackets 30 and 32. The important point with respect to the cables is that they both follow the course of the side guide tracks 22 and 24 so as to ensure that the lower section of the door will run smoothly in these guide tracks.

Referring now to FIGURES 2 and 4, it will be noted that the two corner brackets 18 and 20 carry lugs 64 and 66, which depend inwardly therefrom. The upper door section 14a carries a pair of hinge straps 68 and 70 which engage lugs 64 and 66, respectively. This arrangement is most important since it provides ready means for accurately installing the door and the associated hardware. The installation is carried out by first toe-nailing the door in place in the doorway opening and then precisely locating the corner brackets by sliding lugs 64 and 66 into the loop of hinge straps 68 and 70. The corner brackets are then xed in place with lag screws 72. This extremely simple method of installing the door is contrasted with the highly complicated process that must be followed when installing the prior type of door, requiring overhead guide tracks. The latter must be carefully aligned so that they are square with the doorway opening, parallel to each other, and either horizontal or at least inclined to the same degree. By the method of installation in accord with this invention, the fixing of the `corner brackets in the described method absolutely guarantees that the door will swing smoothly.

When the corner brackets have been properly located, it is a simple matter to properly locate the rest of the hardware. For example, the side guide tracks are bolted to the corner brackets by bolts 74, which are passed through pre-drilled holes so as to slope the guide tracks to the proper degree. The lower brackets 34 and 36 can be then bolted to the lower ends of the side guide tracks by bolt 76 and then ixed to the door frame by lag screws 78. In other words, all the hardware is located properly from the corner brackets. The final step in the installation process is to mount the torsion bar apparatus at the side of the door.

It will be noted that lugs 64 and 66 carried by the corner brackets 18 and 20 are located a distance above the doorway opening which is equal to the thickness of the door. This arrangement insures that when the door is fully open, it will assume the position shown in FIG- URE 3, i.e., with the lower door section 14b resting tightly against the underside of the head piece 12. One advantage of this position is that the door is almost cornpletely withdrawn from the weather when open.

One of the advantageous features of the door construction in accord with this invention is the safety factor achieved by the use of a torsion bar counter balancing means. Should the coil spring 44 break, it will merely unwind about the torsion bar 38. Serious accidents have occurred in the past by the use of coil springs which are not wrapped about a central bar, since such a spring tends to fly about with great force when it breaks. The side mounting of the counter balancing means is an improvement on the overhead mounting arrangement since the side arrangement saves head room in the garage or warehouse, as the case may be.

As mentioned above, one of the chief improvements of this door over those according to the known arrangements resides in the provision of horizontally spaced support points for the door in the raised position. This is achieved in the preferred form of the invention by means of the slanted guide tracks. Several important advantages accrue from this feature. First of all, the tracks act as supporting posts for the corner brackets. Secondly, the fact that the tops of the side guide tracks are spaced inwardly from the door opening insures that the door will be supported at horizontally spaced points when in the open position. This prevents over balancing of the door, as might occur if the top of the side guide tracks were positioned immediately below the hinges. Further, the slanted track permits the closing of the door by a pull exerted on the door at any point. If a vertical guide track is used, a downward pull exerted at the innermost portion of an open door would cause the door to over balance, whereas such a pull would serve to close the door in accord with this invention.

From the manufacturing point of View, there is another advantage of the door construction in accordance with this invention. The hardware is the same for all sizes of standard one car doors. Similarly, all two car garage doors will use the same size hardware, regardless of the actual height of the door. This is because any variation in door height is made at the bottom of the lower section of the door. Accordingly, the shipper cannot make a mistake in the hardware required so long as he knows whether or not the door is for a one or two car garage. Lastly, it is pointed out that the door construction in accord with this invention is readily adapted to mechanical assist operation in addition to common manual operation.

Referring now to FIGURES 5 and 6, the second embodiment of the invention differs from the first mainly in the type of counter balancing employed. Whereas the Iirst embodiment illustrated in FIGURES 1 to 4 uses a torsion bar type counter balancing means, the second embodiment relies on a weight 90. The latter is suspended by two cables 92 and 94, which are the equivalent of cables 50 and 54 in the FIGURES l to 4 embodiment. The weight may be any suitable device, such as a concrete block or a cannister filled with lead shot. The cables are looped over screw eye 96 threaded into the upper surface of the weight. It will be appreciated, of course, that the particular type of weight or the particular manner in which the cables are attached to the weight vare not critical to the present invention.

As can be seen in FIGURE 5, weight 90 rises and falls Within a sheet metal channel member 100. The latter not only serves to contain weight 90 but it also serves as an excellent brace for the whole door construction. The channel member 100 can be fixed to'the frame member of the doorway by means of suitable screws 102, which are passed through an integral flange 104 or a separate flange 106. Whether the flange is separate or integral is not critical to its particular function.

Referring to FIGURE 6, it can be seen that a second channel member is ixed to the doorway frame on the opposite side of the door. It supports the other corner bracket 112, which is comparable to corner bracket 20 of the rst embodiment of the invention. Channel member 110 is triangular in cross-sectional shape but could be rectangular if so desired. However, the triangular shape is structurally eicient and provides a saving in material. In this regard, it will be appreciated that channel member 110 also serves to brace the overall door construction.

It is to be further understood that the channel members 110 and 100 serve as independent uprights in the sense that the door is actually suspended between them. This is particularly true when these members extend to iioor level. This suspension of the door between uprights keeps the door swinging open and shut quite freely as the building settles and tends to distort the original shape of the doorway.

It also is to be understood that by spacing pulleys S2 and 58 away from the doorway opening, the cables 92 and 94 lie in a plane which extends through the central part of the longitudinal cross-sectional area of the door in its raised position. This central part is indicated in dashed lines as x-x in FIGURE l and it will be noted that such part encompasses the center of gravity of the door in this raised position.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. An overhead door construction comprising, in combination, a doorway defining frame having a head piece and a pair of vertical jambs, a two-piece door movable between a lowered doorway closing position and a raised doorway opening position, said door having two sections hinged together along a substantially horizontal hinge line, both of said sections having the same horizontal dimension equivalent to the width of said doorway but the lowermost section having a greater vertical dimension than the vertical dimension of the uppermost section so that a portion of the lowermost section projects outwardly of the doorway when the door is in the raised doorway opening position; means for hingedly fixing the top edge of said upper section above the upper limit of said doorway; a pair of corner brackets fixed to said doorway defining frame on either side of said door at the top thereof, said corner brackets each including an element which projects away from said fame on the inside of said doorway, a pulley mounted on a horizontal axle carried by each of the inwardly projecting elements of said corner brackets whereby said pulleys are spaced from said frame, a pair of guide tracks fixed at their upper ends to said inwardly projecting elements of said corner brackets adjacent said pulleys and fixed, at their lower ends, to said Vertical jambs, a pair of guide rollers fixed to said lowermost section on horizontal axles projecting laterally of said lower section with said guide rollers being engaged in said guide tracks, a first cable fixed to said lower door section adjacent one of said guide rollers and extending upwardly along one of said guide tracks to one of said pulleys, a second cable fixed to the other side of said lower door section adjacent the other of said guide rollers and extending upwardly along the otherof said guide tracks to the other of said pulleys; and coun terbalancing means fixed to both said cables for exerting an upwardly directed force in said cables, said pulleys being spaced from said doorway a predetermined distance of such value that the upwardly directed force in said cables substantially passes through the balance point of said door as it rests in the raised doorway opening position.

2. An overhead door construction as claimed in claim 1 in which said counterbalancing means comprises a torsion bar arranged in a vertical position at one side of said doorway, a first bearing bracket fixed to one of said jambs and rotatably supporting the lower end of said torsion bar, a second bearing bracket fixed to the inwardly projecting element of one of said corner brackets and rotatably supporting the upper end of said torsion bar, a coil spring mounted coaxially on said torsion bar and having one end fixed to said first bearing bracket and its other end fixed to said torsion bar, and a pair of takeup pulleys fixed to the upper end of said torsion bar; said cables each being connected to one of said take-up pulleys.

3. An overhead door construction as claimed in claim 1 in which said counterbalancing means comprises a counterweight positioned to one side of said doorway and to which said cables are attached, additional guide pulleys carried by said corner brackets for guiding said cables as said counterweight rises and falls and further including a sheet metal channel member fixed to said frame and enclosing the path of travel of said counterweight, the corner bracket on the side of the doorway at which said counterweight is positioned being further attached to the upper end of said channel member.

4. An overhead door construction as claimed in claim 3 including a second channel member fixed to said frame on the opposite side of said doorway from said first mentioned channel member, the corner bracket on the same side of the door as the second mentioned channel member also being fixed to said second mentioned channel member.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,629,973 5/27 Rush et al 160-207 2,045,060 6/36 Wheatley 160-209 2,045,101 6/36 Robinson 160-191 2,681,699 6/54 Lissaman 160-190 2,786,231 3/57 Robinson 160-191 X 2,926,728 3/60 Johannsen et al. 160-209 X 3,146,825 9/64 Briggs et al 160-191 FOREIGN PATENTS 235,268 9/61 Australia. 671,273 4/52 Great Britain.

HARRISON R. MOSELEY, Primary Examiner. 

1. AN OVERHEAD DOOR CONSTRUCTION COMPRISING, IN COMBINATION, A DOORWAY DEFINING FRAME HAVING A HEAD PIECEAND A PAIR OF VERTICAL JAMBS, A TWO-PIECE DOOR MOVABLE BETWEEN A LOWERED DOORWAY CLOSING POSITION AND A RAISED DOORWAY OPENING POSITION, SAID DOOR HAVING TWO SECTIONS HINGED TOGETHER ALONG A SUBSTANTIALLY HORIZONTAL HING LINE, BOTH OF SAID SECTIONS HAVING THE SAME HORIZONTAL DIMENSION EQUIVALENT TO THE WIDTH OF SAID DOORWAY BUT THE LOWERMOST SECTION HAVING A GREATER VERTICAL DIMENSION THAN THE VERTICAL DIMENSION OF THE UPPERMOST SECTION SO THAT A PORTION OF THE LOWERMOST SECTION PROJECTS OUTWARDLY OF THE DOORWAY WHEN THE DOOR IS IN THE RAISED DOORWAY OPENING POSITION; MEANS FOR HINGEDLY FIXING THE TOP EDGE OF SAID UPPER SECTION ABOVE THE UPPER LIMIT OF SAID DOORWAY; A PAIR OF CORNER BRACKETS FIXED TO SAID DOORWAY DEFINING FRAME ON EITHER SIDE OF SAID DOOR AT THE TOP THEREOF, SAID CORENER BRACKETS EACH INCLUDING AN ELEMENT WHICH PROJECTS AWAY FROM SAID FRAME ON THE INSIDE OF SAID DOORWAY, A PULLEY MOUNTED ON A HORIZONTAL AXLE CARRIED BY EACH OF THE INWARDLY PROJECTING ELEMENTS OF SAID CORNER BRACKETS WHEREBY SAID PULLEYS ARE SPACED FROM SAID FRAME, A PAIR OF GUIDE TRACKS FIXED AT THEIR UPPER ENDS OF SAID INWARDLY PROJECTING ELEMENTS OF SAID CORNER BRACKETS ADJACENT SAID PULLEYS AND FIXED, AT THEIR LOWER ENDS, TO SAID VERTICAL JAMBS, A PAIR OF GUIDE ROLLERS FIXED TO SAID LOWERMOST SECTION ON HORIZONTAL AXLES PROJECTING LATERALLY OF SAID LOWER SECTION WITH SAID GUIDE ROLLERS BEING ENGAGED IN SAID GUIDE TRACKS, A FIRST CABLE FIXED TO SAID LOWER DOOR SECTION ADJACENT ONE OF SAID GUIDE ROLLERS AND EXTENDING UPWARDLY ALONG ONE OF SAID GUIDE TRACKS TO ONE OF SAID PULLEYS, A SECOND CABLE FIXED TO THE OTHER SIDE OF SAID LOWER DOOR SECTION ADJACENT THE OTHER OF SAID GUIDE ROLLERS AND EXTENDING UPWARDLY ALONG THE OTHER OF SAID GUIDE TRACKS TO THE OTHER OF SAID PULLEYS; AND COUNTERBALANCING MEANS FIXED TO BOTH SAID CABLES FOR EXERTING AN UPWARDLY DIRECTED FORCE IN SAID CABLES, SAID PULLEYS BEING SPACED FROM SAID DOORWAY A PREDETERMINED DISTANCE OF SUCH VALUE THAT THE UPWARDLY DIRECTED FORCE IN SAID CABLES SUBSTANTIALLY PASSES THROUGH THE BALANCE JOINT OF SAID DOOR AS IT RESTS IN THE RAISED DOORWAY OPENING POSITION. 